


Legacy

by LittleBlackGoldfish



Series: Bemily Week 2021 [5]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F, F/M, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, Superpowers, as supplied by wikipedia and my eighth grade memories, slight heterosexual content, some light - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 05:34:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29771430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleBlackGoldfish/pseuds/LittleBlackGoldfish
Summary: Legacy is the newly chosen (semi)-mortal champion of Athena - the Industrious, the Unwearying, of the City - as well as the newest member of Junior Justice; the teen-superhero team of Progress City. A story in which almost no actual superhero-ing is seen.Bemily Week 2021 Day 5 - Superpowers
Relationships: Emily Junk/Beca Mitchell
Series: Bemily Week 2021 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2173860
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Legacy

Master Mage-Eye (real name Benjamin Applebaum) is showing Emily around the rec lounge of The Courthouse — which, being a fifty-two story tower of steel and glass, lookings nothing like an actual courthouse — when she spots the girl; no costume, no obvious mutation, nothing to suggest she even is a super except that by now familiar twinge at the back of Emily's head. She's new to this whole… thing, but she's already learned to trust that instinct.

Of course given that she's already inside the tower, chances are she's a good guy. Right? Emily has probably seen way too many bad summer flicks.

"Who's that?"

At first she thinks she's quiet enough the girl didn't hear, but at the same time as the Mage opens his mouth to answer, so does the girl.

"Oh! That's— "

"Beca."

Doesn't even look up as she says it. Just keeps laying there, lengthwise on the couch, her fingers dancing across the screen of her phone. He hesitates a moment and then deflates.

"Right, yeah, Beca. She's- um, great."

"I'm moody and unfriendly," Beca corrects as she continues scrolling through her phone, "Total bitch, really. I'll steal your…" finally glancing up at Emily and Mage, she assesses for a moment before continuing, "Boyfriend or horse or whatever it is that you care about."

Mage glances between them nervously, starting to step away.

"Hi," Emily says, "I'm— "

"Legacy, I know. Born Emily Hardon-Junk, chosen as Athena's Champion in the mortal realm two months ago while on vacay in Greece, charged with righting injustices, seeking out villains, bla bla bla."

"Um, actually _Athena, the Industrious, the Unwearying, of the City_ ," her voice did the thing again where it went all, like reverby, without her trying, "Told me to go out and 'make miracles and slay fools.' The other stuff is… they said it didn't sound good. Too villainy?"

One of Beca's eyebrows went up at that.

"Huh."

Mage coughs, "So, um, this is the lounge. It's totally stacked with basically everything you could want," he points to the attached kitchen, which is huge, "Snacks, fresh fruit, bread, drinks. Really, everything. And there's, uh, also the tv," Emily actually thought that was a wall, "We mostly just play games on it, but Booster puts on a movie at least twice a week. We make popcorn and sit around and, uh some of the older supers drink. Feverdream calls her family on it all the time. And- and of course you can use it whenever, just- uh, when someone else isn't. And through there," he's talking a mile a minute, barely waiting to finish one thought before he moves on to the next, "Is the play roo— "

"Right, and that's my cue," Beca says, shooting up and vaulting over the side of the couch, "Later brainboy, Legacy."

She pushes past Emily and Mage and disappears around the corner a second later. Mage keeps quiet for a second longer, before he gives her a quiet nervous little smile, like he's about to let her in on a secret he really shouldn't.

"Don't worry about- um, Beca. She's really nice, she just has, uh, a lot going on."

Whatever it is that she has going on, Emily isn't about to pry, so she nods politely and lets Mage keep on giving her the grand tour.

*  
*

Life as part of Junior Justice is boring, like really boring. It's mostly like her life was before, except nicer and punctuated by terrifying moments of fear and terror and adrenaline.

Emily only goes on like a handful of missions in her first two months, and in a lot of ways they're not even as bad as the trials Athena put her through in the- uh, Otherplace (and yeah, she's pretty sure that's the best way to describe it; 'cause it was a place and it… other, also it had like giant spiders and weird snake women), but they also felt a lot more real. Probably because if she'd failed the test Athena would have just spat her back out. She thinks. Maybe.

Anyways, she goes to school five days a week (there's two whole floors dedicated to it and a teacher for each of them, though they still end up doing group classes a lot), texts, watches bad movies, stays up late, and eats way too many salty snacks and sugary drinks. Just about the only part of it that's not like normal is that Emily can't just, like, walk out of her room and hug her mom and dad or bug her brothers.

Not that she doesn't have people to bug.

Of course there's Mage and even though he's way too nervous and eager to please most of the time, he's also just the sweetest. They bond over writing, even though he wants to write like those science fiction books with guys in silver spacesuits and girls in leather bikinis on the cover and Emily writes songs. It's still writing and they bond over it.

But there's others. At best she can tell there are six 'Junior Heroes' in Junior Justice. Including her. She meets Booster (Jesse Swanson) on her second day, and he's nice. Goofy. Loves movies, like, seriously _loves_.

Feverdream (Florencia Fuentes) is this tiny girl. Drop dead gorgeous. More than that though, she's funny, in this way that's always catching Emily off guard so that she can't stop herself from snorting at dinner. She's sure they're going to be great friends, soon.

Then there's Decade Boy (Bumper Allen), the 'young and dashing sidekick' to Century Man. Who is… well, usually she tries not to talk ill about people, but he's an asshole. She stays as far away from him as possible.

Which it really kind of isn't. Possible, that is. Still she doesn't go looking for him and when he inevitably inserts himself Emily tries to ignore him as best she can.

And that just leaves _Was_ (Cynthia-Rose Adams) who is probably the smartest human Emily has ever met. She also has a lovely singing voice and once she gets up the courage, Emily is going to beg her into recording one of her songs.

Occasionally they get joined by Astral Girl. Not that she counts. Junior Justice is strictly for the eighteen and under crowd and she hasn't seen any six foot, muscle bound, blondes hanging around their floors of The Courthouse.

Beca is around, sometimes, but she doesn't go on missions and Emily still hasn't learned her super name. If she even has one. After a bit she started thinking Beca was maybe like mission control or something, but she's never on comms during missions so she had to toss that idea out.

For a bit her best theory was that Beca was like, one of those geniuses that makes gadgets and stuff. Which made sense given what she knows, right up until the point that she considered that the team only ever handed broken tech to _Was_ after a mission. And that means Emily is right back to square one. She doesn't want to just ask, because it's… fun to have a safe little mystery all to herself.

It scratches an itch.

*  
*

Booster hesitates, his whole body stilling for a second while he consciously wrestles his instincts.

Emily takes advantage of this and sweeps his left leg out from under him with her staff — standing in for her spear so that she doesn't accidentally cripple him — sending him tumbling onto his butt. He lands with a thud and stairs blinking at the ceiling for several seconds.

"Ow," he finally groans.

After another moment he takes her hand she gets him back on his feet. They're both sweating, though Emily knows she can keep going. She's not so sure he can.

Thirty-one times she's knocked him down, and twenty-nine times Booster has gotten back up on his own, but even superhuman endurance has its limits. His powers mostly help other people.

"I really think you should find someone else."

"What," he breathes, leaning his hands against his thighs, "Am I," another, "Finally," and again, "Wearing you," his chest is actually heaving, "Down? Fuck."

He almost falls face forward, but Emily catches him at the last second.

Booster has two inches and at least thirty pounds on her and yet she can lift him as easily as her spear, the proper one, "Yes, o' indomitable warrior, you have bested _I_ , _Champion of Victorious Athena_ ," again with the reverb, "In single combat, now… take your well earned rest."

And with that she sets him against the wall, half standing and he slides the rest of the way down to the floor.

"That'll teach you, you," he shakes a finger weakly up at her, "Perfidious demigod. Never to underestimate the sons of… of— " he dropped his head to his knees, "Oh god, I'm so sore."

Emily rolls her eyes.

"Seriously, you need to train against someone else. I actually think you're still subconsciously extending your power to me."

"Not subconsciously," Booster says, shaking his head.

"Booster!"

He really is such an idiot. How does he expect to improve if she just keeps beating him? Of all the stupid macho- what he needs to be is challenged, not simply beaten or knocked repeatedly to the ground.

She is absolutely, one hundred percent, never doing this again.

"You need someone who can— "

"Provide me with a challenge," he flashes her his usual disarming smile, though it's someone undercut by the way he winces as he does it, "Yeah I think I see your point. It's just, most of the others don't really rely a lot on, like, fighting skills."

That is true. Of all the other Junior Justices only Decade Boy really fights hand to hand and even then he leans a lot on his power (which Emily doesn't, totally understand, except that it has to do with manipulate numbers somehow), Mage and Feverdream both wield 'strange mystical forces' to 'disorient, confuse, and dismantle' their enemies. Was of course has her tech and gizmos and widgets to fight for her.

Not that they can't hold their own against the usual mooks and henchsorts, they definitely can. It's when any of the bigger hitters, like Minotaur or Red Eagle show up that Emily and Booster and Decade Boy have to pull heat.

Still, the others would be a better match, especially with his power.

"What about Decade Boy?"

Booster snorts, "Different sort of torture, but worse in its way."

"Feverdream?"

Something very interesting happens to his face.

"I- uh, the last time we- my, um- just, not a good idea."

Oh. Oh! Ew!

Well, not ew. It's a perfectly natural physical reaction for a teenage boy to have, their health class has been very clear on that front, as well as emphasizing that such things are rarely voluntary. But, still.

Ew.

Entirely unrelated, a thought strikes Emily, of a way to get a little bit of information. Subtly.

"And Beca?"

Which sets him off laughing and then a second later groaning again.

"That, would be an even worse disaster. Talk about one sided, no thanks."

Well, that settles it. Beca is definitely not any sort of super.

*  
*

Some days it still all gets to be too much. Despite her teammates (and, she's starting to think, friends) the fear and terror and adrenaline catch up and Emily just has to find some place to be alone. The therapist they have her seeing (twice a week, mondays and thursdays) says it's common with transformational experiences like hers in the Otherplace.

That being imbued with phenomenal power and unique purpose is a fundamentally traumatic experience, no matter how benevolent the entity doing the bestowing. She also says that ancient greek gods are a far cry of 'benevolent.'

Which makes sense.

Emily gets all of that intellectually, but that doesn't make it any easier to ignore those lonely nights she wakes up from dreams filled with an impossible voice commanding her over and over again to 'make miracles,' even if she's pretty sure it's not actually Athena herself. Knowing that others have gone through what she is, are going through it too, helps a bit. For the fear and more regular stuff she can talk to Mage and that helps a lot; some nights they stay up for hours, doing nothing but talking about what scares them and just being _there_ for each other.

For the other stuff, Emily makes her way up to top floors, fifty or fifty-one and hangs out on the garden balconies up there. Sometimes she just yells into the wind. Other times she lays in the sun and tries to think about nothing.

Mostly though she sings.

It helps somehow.

And basically no one else, not even the adult supers, goes up there. Emily has it all to herself.

Until she doesn't.

It happens right around the four month mark of her time with Junior Justice, it's a bright spring day and Emily is trying to forget the way Giant Spider carapace feels cracking under her knuckles by singing a song she's been working on. Not even half finished, it's about like, this sense of longing to _go back_. Or maybe it's about learning to let go. Emily hasn't settled that yet.

Her eyes are closed, like they usually are when she's focused. A nice breeze pulls her hair back off her face.

"Da. Dada-da. Dadada, da da daaa."

She's just humming along to this partial melody she has in her head, sprinkling in the parts of fragments of lines she's figured out so far.

"If I could just… wawawa… tk-tks-a… get ba— "

"You're probably going to want something a little heavier on the back of that."

"Aaaah!" she screams, her heart already beating a mile a second.

Instinct takes over and Emily scrambles forward, spinning around with her hands already clasping the still materializing shaft of her spear. Left hand forward, right hand back. Tip down.

"Whoa whoa," Beca says from her seat in the corner, holding one hand up as she puts away her phone with the other, "Relax Legacy, it's just me."

There wasn't anyone else up there when she came up.

"You shouldn't sneak up on supers like that… I- I didn't hear you."

Beca just shrugs, unconcerned. She was too distracted, Emily decides, too caught up in the music.

Which… should be fine. The Courthouse is safe, secure. Probably one of the safest places in the world, Star Knight himself helped build it, there's ancient Kritikosan technology in the walls. She's fine, she's safe.

After a moment Emily's breathing and heart rate returns to normal.

Wait, hold on a second, "Did- are- do you write songs too?"

"Sort of," Beca nods, "Produce them, it- it's easier, you know? Music. Songs, melodies, rhythms, it's all just, math and patterns, right so it makes sense even if… well, it makes sense no matter how different you are."

"Huh."

That makes a lot of sense. Especially with Emily's new theory about Beca that she's either someone's sister or daughter.

"Cool," Emily's heart starts beating fast again, "Um- cool, yeah. Did- uh, maybe did you want to work on something together?"

Beca blinks back at her for a moment, "Like, a song?"

She nods.

Beca stares at her for a long beat, like she can't believe Emily would even ask her. Like maybe Emily is pathetic and desperate and not actually a very good singer and Beca was just being polite, offering a small bit of polite advice.

Oh god. Oh god. Emily wants to throw up.

"Yeah, that- I'd like that. Sure."

*  
*

"Keep it in your pants, Legacy," _Was_ says from her perch on top of the antenna mountings.

Emily starts, her neck going hot as she snaps her mouth closed and tries to look away from where Astral Girl is standing at the edge of the lip of the building, talking to mission control, while not looking like she's looking away. It's hard. All those smooth muscular curves and the low silk of her voice.

She glances over at Was — _tip tapping_ away at a computer screen attached to the bottom of the dish by a long trailing bundle of cables — and opens her mouth defensively.

"I- I wasn't— "

"Relax. When she's looking like that, I get it. Just remember, we're on a mission."

Their mission, right. Tracking a cell of the Black Corridor; notorious terrorists for hire (which, what?) and supertech smugglers. Progress City is new territory for them and dangerous, given that the Society of Justice has The Courthouse right smack dab in the middle of the city, but they have the tools to make it work. Stolen stealth tech from Cumulous City, charms from the Library of Everywhere, Atlantean weapons, Doradian magical artifacts, personal armor stolen from Project 29, and all sorts of other things.

If they can start shipping in their merchandise to the local gangs and supervillains it'll be a destabilizing influence for the whole of North America west of the Rockies and north of Redding. And with most of the Society still dealing with the remnants of the Pyraxian invasion somewhere out in the oort cloud, that just leaves Junior Justice — and Astral Girl — to deal with it, minus Booster and Feverdream who are still laid out from Q-ray radiation poisoning from their encounter with The Man a week ago.

So really it's just Emily, _Was_ , and Decade Boy. Plus Astral Girl.

"Any word, _Was_?" Astral Girl's voice yanks Emily out of her thoughts as the older superhero walks over in all her six foot-three, double-dee, silky blond-haired glory.

Rolling her eyes the other girl keeps tip tapping away on her screen.

"Well, seeing as I haven't said anything..."

Astral Girl rolls her eyes right back, and then looks over at Emily.

"Legacy- I— " she shakes her head, "When we hit them, stick with me Legacy."

Emily frowns, but nods back, "O- okay."

"Ha! Got you, fuckers! Bounce your signal all over the city will you? Can't save you from the brilliance of _Was_!"

*  
*

"Does she talk to you?"

"Huh?"

Emily looks up from her notebook to where Beca is lounging on her bed. It's the first time the other girl has been in her room, over the last three weeks they've steadily progressed from working on music stuff in an unused meeting room, to requisitioning one of the soundproofed rooms on level thirty-seven, to finally just tucking themselves in Emily's room.

"Athena," Beca clarifies.

"Oh. No, not really. I mean she did when she picked me, but there aren't any like… dreams or anything."

Emily read some old Greek mythology in the months after, but the reality of it didn't quite match up with what was in those stories. Maybe it was the translation, she should maybe try and get her hands on original greek texts, but even then she thinks it probably wouldn't sit quite right.

Probably most of the stories were based on something like sixth of seventh or even fiftieth-hand accounts. If any of the people who met the gods in the stories ever even did.

"What was it like, meeting a god?"

Emily hums, "It was like… staring at the sun. Like meeting a person, who was so much a person it was hard to see the real shape of them."

Beca goes quiet and Emily goes back to her writing for a moment, but then she looks up because the silence is almost too quiet. Like the goddess was too much a person. On her bed Beca is just sort of staring at the ceiling, her eyes far away as she holds her phone in her hand.

Suddenly Beca looks over, "And she really told you to 'slay fools?' "

Because Athena did in fact say those in fact words to her, Emily nods.

"Yeah. Four, five thousand years ago that made sense. The world was harsher back then, meaner."

"And you're just… okay with that? With being tied to someone who tells you to go out and kill people?"

Emily blinks and laughs.

"She doesn't mean it like that… it's— "

Beca flips over on her bed and stares intently down at her, "How do you know?"

The question does take her aback for a moment, but the answer's on the tip of her tongue already and it almost does feel like Athena whispering it in her ear. Only not.

No, what it really feels like is _knowing_ someone fully.

"Because, she chose _me_ and that's not how I mean it."

*  
*

Emily walks into the rec lounge carrying her guitar across her back and immediately starts looking for Beca. It's been something two months since their meeting on the balcony and they've been meeting pretty consistently once or twice a week (usually wednesday evenings) to 'jam' and hang out.

Well it's wednesday again and she has something she wants Beca's opinion on.

Nothing seriously really, just this little skeleton of a song she's been working on. Mage actually helped her work out some of the rhyme schemes — not that he knows that — and thought eventually Emily wants to share it with everyone, first she wants Beca's input. Just… because.

But she doesn't see the other girl, just Feverdream and _Was_ back by the kitchen, whispering over a magazine, and Booster cooking something on the stove. It's not like they have a standing appointment or anything. Still, usually Beca is waiting for her. Maybe the others know where she is, or Emily can wait a little bit for her.

Yeah.

Everything's fine.

She walks over to the long island that dominates most of the kitchen and sits down at one of the awkwardly tall stools. Feverdream looks up and smiles at her, while Was just waves.

"Hey."

Then Feverdream is looking back down at the magazine, it looks like some sort of mail-order catalogue for kitchen appliances? _Was_ stops her just before she flips the page.

"I can build that."

Booster glances over his shoulder at the noise from the other two and smiles at Emily.

"Hey, Legacy," he says, then gestures down at the pan in front of him, "You want any? Fever says she's not eating anymore of my 'bland ass, white-boy food' so you're welcome to it."

Feverdream smirks at his words and doesn't rise to the bait.

They've got some sort of weird thing going on that no one else can really figure out. Decade Boy caught them 'wrestling' in the sparring room two weeks ago in nothing but their underwear and they asked if he wanted to join them.

Mage overheard them flinging insults at each other in the weight room three days ago and ran to get Emily. By the time they got back they were barely holding in laughter and still saying some of the _worst_ things she's ever heard to each other.

It's bizarre, whatever it is.

Emily isn't hungry, though she hasn't eaten since breakfast, so she shakes her head, "No thanks."

He shrugs and goes back to cooking his eggs. A few quiet moments pass with Emily picking at the seam of her jeans.

Then a few more.

"H- have you guys seen Beca around?"

 _Was_ looks up instantly and opens her mouth, but Feverdream lays a hand on her arm and the black super snaps her mouth shut. Over by the stove Booster is still cooking, but he's also clearly listening.

Okay.

Something ever weirder than Fever and Booster's thing is going on.

"Guys?"

"No, Legacy, we haven't seen Beca," Feverdreams says.

Emily can sense the but coming, and so she supplies, "But…"

"You and Beca- you two are getting close. Everyone's noticed and we just wanted to make sure that, um— "

"We're not doing anything, like that."

She's not even really sure what she means; flirting, kissing, sex? They're really not doing any of that. At least, Emily doesn't think they are.

"No, no," Feverdream shakes her head, agreeing, "Of course not. Not that you couldn't if you wanted to. It's just that- _oh dios mio_ , how do I say this…"

There's a long pause while Feverdream stares at Emily and worries at her bottom lip. Finally, there's a sharp click from the stove and Booster turns around.

"We just want you to know that, Beca sometimes gets scared. Of emotions. And that if that happens, it's not because of you, she just- ever since she came here- I mean not here here, but our whole- the transition was difficult for her is all."

Emily is very thoroughly confused. He's saying things that she doesn't understand, but in a way, like she should understand. So, she just nods mutely.

Booster smiles warmly at her and says, "I think you'd be good for her, by the way. You know, if you two do… try."

Then he's turning around and going back to his cooking and _Was_ and Feverdream are going back to their magazine and Emily is just sitting there not sure of what to think at all. She needs time to think.

No.

What she needs to do is find Beca and just ask her. Beca will either tell her or- or, she won't.

"I think I'm going back to my room."

The others look up but they don't say anything to stop her.

She turns around, almost mechanically, and starts walking back out towards the main entrance that leads to their personal quarters. Only problem is that she still doesn't know where Beca is. Emily will have to do this methodically; eliminate parts of The Courthouse by section.

A few she can discard right off the bat. Bottom three floors are public space, a museum and gift shop, two restaurants, some offices and meeting rooms and general admin for all of it, and a spacious lobby. There's of course generators and storage vaults and other tech stuff below that in the sub basement levels, but since Beca isn't a super she shouldn't have access. Emily doesn't even have access to most of it. She can probably throw out floors four to twenty, that's for the technical staff and the various law enforcement attaches.

Twenty-one and twenty-two are both containment, a labyrinthine honeycomb of ad hoc cells packed with all sorts of forcefield projectors and radiation shielding and life support equipment that she can't even name. Medical is above that. Basically everything below twenty-four is out.

From there to thirty is training facilities. Thirty-one is a secondary command center in case the main one at the top of the building is out of commission.

Then four floors of (mostly empty) living space for Junior Justice, two more of miscellaneous amenities (two pools, a library, a theatre, labs, etc.), and two of school facilities.

Forty to forty-seven is more living space (this time for the actual Society members) and their amenities, followed by the main command center, the really secret labs, and the vaults for the stuff people like Star Knight don't want to even hint about. Then more space for technical staff and like meeting halls and all sorts of that sort of stuff.

So, Emily should either start on twenty-four and work her way up, or start on forty-eight and go down. It'll be hard and she'll have to move quick, but she should be able to find Beca in five or six hours. Less if she doesn't move around.

There's a ding from the far end of the hallway and a second later Decade Boy steps out of the elevator, rubbing at his shoulder.

"Crazy bitch…" he says.

Emily rolls her eyes. Not that she would normally stick her nose into his business, who he pisses off isn't her concern, but Emily is especially not interested at the moment.

Besides he—

Hold up. Feverdream and _Was_ are both back in the lounge, and he specifically said 'bitch.' Even Decade Boy isn't stupid and arrogant enough to think he can pick a fight with an actual Society member, which means that even though she's enver seen them so much as interact he has to be referring to Beca.

"Heeey, Legacy," he lets go of his shoulder and puts on what he seems to think is a 'sexy' look, "Didn't know that you— "

She grabs him by the lapels of his stupid cheap (and two sizes too small) suit and lifts him clear off his feet.

"Aaaah! Wha-what are you— "

"Beca," she growls, "Where is she?"

"Training rooms! Training rooms! Twenty-nine! Jesus Christ you psycho!"

Emily drops him unceremoniously, he falls against the wall and clutches it desperately for support, and takes off at a jog for the stairs. It'll be faster than waiting around. Dimly, as slams through the door and starts taking the stairs two at a time she hears him behind her.

"What the… must be on the rag. Probably synced— "

Then his voice is lost in the pound of her own heart and the rush of air as she hurtles down the stairwell, leaping over baluster after baluster. One floor. Two. Three. Four.

Energy fills her, her normal clothes shift and shimmer and transform into leather and bronze.

Her feet slap against concrete and a metal door crashes open.

Floor twenty-nine is the training floor used to test out new powers. Meaning it's reinforced to hell and back, but also has floor to ceiling glass walls lining every room so that people can look in for observation and they polarize under a number of conditions (they're also not actually glass, but rather a sort of diamond matrix or something). In other words, heavy duty.

Why Beca would choose to use twenty-nine when twenty-five is much more mundane Emily doesn't know. But it's also not really the main thing she's thinking about.

A whole floor is still a large space to search so it takes her about five minutes before she spots the other girl in one of the smaller, less intense rooms. No high-intensity heat radiators or acid spray nozzles in twenty-nine-C. Just punching bags, reflex testers, and machine-assisted resistance bands.

Beca is busy hitting at one of the punching bags (Emily can't tell what class it is, but given her size and how it's moving it's got to be like a 0), stripped down to training wear barely better than underwear.

Watching the other girl as she does so, Emily puts her code into the little keypad next to the nearest door. It beeps.

At the same time Beca lets out a shout and punches the bag in front of her. Hard.

"Fuck!"

With a ripping tear the skin of the bag split at the same time as the titanium chain holding it up snaps, sending to all tumbling to the floor and scattering sand and metal balls almost as thick around as Emily's hand smacking into the floor She startles and freezes.

"Beca?"

Beca whirls around and stares, frozen herself, back at Emily.

Several things in her brain click into place suddenly. Beca is a super. Not only that but Beca is—

"You're Astral Girl?"

Even as they come out of her mouth they don't make sense to Emily, her brain is reaching conclusions that she can't justify.

Beca nods which makes even less sense.

"How- that- you're- she's- what?"

"I can show you," she sighs, "If you want?"

Emily can't do anything but nod.

"Okay. Okay. Um, you might want to sit down… it's supposed to be, strange."

There are benches basically all around the perimeter of the training room, usually for the scientists and other heroes to watch from. She picks the nearest one and sits down heavily.

Beca keeps glancing at her occasionally as she peels off the gloves.Then she steps to the side a bit, so that she's centered in the middle of the open space and closes her eyes. Emily waits and watches.

For half a second she doesn't think anything is happening, that maybe Beca is actually playing a prank on her with Decade Boy, but then Beca's skin starts to… unwrap is the only way for Emily to describe it. Only it's not just her skin, it's the whole of her. Every part of her, just, _unfolds_ all at once and then someone else steps into the same space.

It hurts Emily's eyes to look at.

One second there's Beca and then the next it's Astral Girl, wearing the same clothes and just as covered in sweat (the lightest sheen around her clavicle and, um, cleavage).

"It's part of my powers. Comes in handy for being able to just go out and for getting people to listen to me, especially when I first got here."

"Here," there's that word again and even though she already knows the answer, Emily has to ask, "Like Progress City?"

Beca shakes her head, "No, ah- I, uh should explain that," she steps closer and looks at the bench space besides Emily, "Do you mind if I— " she gestures and Emily of course shakes her head back.

"Cool. Cool. I'm going to uh, change back too."

And then she does. It's just as fast and just as weird to see. Though thankfully on the other end of it at least there's Beca.

She sits down beside Emily and doesn't look at her, just sits there with her hands gripping the edge of the bench and stares down at the floor.

"So, um, where should I start?" it's not really a question, "Okay, here it is; I'm from another dimension. A pretty different one really, though since I came here, to this one, when I was seven I can't really say _how_ exactly. I was all alone, so, um- it was pretty scary, though at the time I looked like a six-foot black linebacker so nothing bad actually— "

Wait what?

"You looked like a football player? A guy? How much can you control it?"

Beca shrugs.

"A lot. I can't pretty much look how I want, though it takes… effort, to keep it up and being consistent took practice. Makes, um, grooming easy."

"Huh."

"Yeah. So, um, yeah I was alone for a while, until eventually Dr. Mitchell— uh, Star Knight — took me in and then I joined Junior Justice and that's pretty much it."

Emily frowns, "But, why did you tell me that you were— "

"I'm not," Beca cut in fiercely, "Astral Girl is the other person. I'm just Beca."

Still uncertain, Emily lets that hang in the air, after a second Beca sighs.

"People treat me differently when they find out. They get weird. If it were just stupid party tricks; turning into a bear, making my hair purple, or whatever it wouldn't be so bad, but they have all these… expectations about what I'm like. Some people want more from me, other people they- it's not about me so it's easier if I just keep it all separate."

Her hands are white knuckled against the bench, Emily starts to reach out, but she isn't sure yet what she wants to come next so she hesitates.

"It wasn't even that I was really keeping it from you at first, I just wasn't telling you and we hardly knew each other so it wasn't like it mattered. But then, these last months we… I wanted to tell you. I just didn't know how and now you probably hate me and I— "

"I don't," she lays one hand over Becas and the other girl starts, her face whipping around to stare, shocked at Emily.

"Really, I don't. I even sort of- well, no, I don't get it. But you didn't owe it to me to tell me."

Beca starts laughing and crying, but before Emily can do more than open her mouth and start reaching out to comfort her she's straightening back up and wiping at her eyes.

"No, no, don't worry. It's just… I was so worried and you're just _okay_ with it."

"Is that why you came down here?"

Beca shakes her head, "No no, that's- Star Knight stuff. Sometimes he forgets that I have an actual dad, however many infinities of possibility he is away, and tries to play the part. We- forget it."

Emily runs her fingers over Beca's hand and squeezes.

"I can listen, if you want."

Another shake of her head.

"No, thanks, but no."

Then several long beats of quiet before Beca turns again and looks at Emily.

"Though, um- in the spirit of honesty, there is something else I- uh, I should tell you, because I don't want to keep things from you that you do deserve to know, especially if they would um- that is if you might, maybe, possibly, make a decision based on— "

Emily almost laughs at the way she blushes, stumbling over her words, but instead she just pulls at Beca's hand, dragging it into her lap and dragging the other girl's attention to her. She suddenly finds herself a lot braver than she was just seconds ago.

No she's not unsure at all of what she wants to happen next.

"Beca, I would very much like it if you kissed me now."

In return, Beca squeaks and nods. Then she starts to lean in.

When their lips touch it's not fireworks, just the soft warmth of Beca pressing into Emily. She surges forward just a little, and presses her tongue to the seam of her lips tentatively almost like she's afraid Beca will bite. A second later they part and Emily is filled with a frisson of excitement that sets her whole body on fire.

**Author's Note:**

> Had a lot more fun with this than I expected to.


End file.
